Described as 'the fastest growing hardware product in Apple's line-up,' Apple TV is rumored to be getting a spring update a

Apple's annual shareholder meeting is one of its most un-Apple-like gatherings. Attendance is limited to company shareholders and press, CEO Tim Cook and other executives often take questions, and attendees are asked to not take their electronic devices into the meeting. All of that adds up to an interesting trickle of information from a variety of sources around the Web, which we've collected for you in one easy-to-digest package.

Turn on the Apple TVBy all accounts, Cook spent a good chunk of time discussing the Apple TV on Friday, telling shareholders that the company had sold more than $1 billion worth of the set-top boxes (and related content) in the last year.

Apple also updated a few figures on the number of iMessages sent every day -- a staggering 40 billion -- and the number of FaceTime video calls -- 15 to 20 million. Earlier this week, in OS X 10.9.2, Apple added to Macs the ability to make FaceTime audio calls, a feature added to iOS devices last fall in iOS 7.

Cash on the barrelApple's store of cash has been a contentious issue over the past couple of years. According to CNBC, Cook on Friday promised an update on the company's capital return program within 60 days -- which would put it right around the time of Apple's next quarterly financial call in late April.

Furthermore, the company has been on something of an acquisition tear, buying up 23 companies over the last 16 months. Some of those have, of course, made it to the public eye, but there are no doubt a few that haven't yet come to light.

Modest proposalsIssues of Apple corporate governance aren't exactly edge-of-your-seat material, but they are what a shareholder meeting is all about. Apple's entire board of directors was re-elected, and every proposal the board favored was approved, including one to award more stock to Apple employees in key positions and another to tie executive compensation more tightly to the company's performance.

In keeping with the theme of staying the course, Bloomberg also reported that Cook said Apple was on the right track. "We made more money than any other technology company has ever made. Other than companies that drill oil for a living, I'm not sure that anyone has ever made more. We're very proud of that."

This story, "Cook dishes on Apple TV, innovation, cash on hand at annual shareholder meeting" was originally published by
Macworld.

Dan has been writing about all things Apple since 2006, when he first started contributing to the MacUser blog. Since then he's covered most of the company's major product releases and reviewed every major revision of iOS. In his "copious" free time, he's usually grinding away on a novel or two.